Hi all,
Like many of you (joeganz, SueVT, mwilson, Benny, et al), I've been enraptured by the Panettone Prize. A couple of years ago I dove in and managed to make a few good panettoni using the Giorilli recipe. This fall I started the journey again, only to be met by failure after failure with a starter that never more than doubled in volume. I read all the threads here and tried all the various techniques on my starter: water-bathed, clothbound and free; 1:1, 1:0.8, 1:2; strong Italian flour, KA bread flour, some whole wheat, some gluten; coiled, balled, crossed; 6, 12, 24 and 48 hour rise times; warm bagnetto, no bagnetto; room temp, cool temp, warm temp; and a mix of all of the above. I'd try the primo impasto anyway, to try and pick up some morsel of data, only to wake up to find shiny, lifeless goo. Finally, I bought a pH meter, diligently tracking the starters before and after, only to stay stuck in a range between 4.3 and 4.6.
Then one day, I washed off the pH meter under the sink, happened to have it turned on, and noticed a reading of 9.4. Wait, what? I thought water was "neutral" and around 7.0? Well, a little internetting and I find that San Francisco water averages a pH of 9.3! (Water quality reports here: https://www.sfpuc.gov/accounts-services/water-quality/annual-triennial-water-quality-reports) The water is also on the soft side (low dissolved minerals). So maybe the alkaline water is prohibiting the yeast activity? I tested water from our Brita filter and that pH measured 8.3, so I refreshed the starter with that water. I did a couple of refreshments and saw the starter was increasing by 2.5-2.75x! I forged ahead and made a primo impasto. This time, I woke up to some very faint air bubbles and an almost imperceptible rise (I also realize, I'm just about losing my mind at this point and could have been convinced I hallucinated any rise at all!) By mid-day, there was definitely rising, at least 2x, and the primo finally tripled at hour....42!! I went ahead with the second dough (using Mountain Valley Spring Water with a 7.3 pH!), all went well, good gluten formation, and I placed them in the molds. By hour 4 there was a 50% increase. By now, any adherence to a schedule is completely off the rails, so I leave them to rise overnight at 70F (14 hours total). I woke to perfectly risen dough! Baked them off, hung them upside down, and sliced into it tonight. It's delicious! Fluffy and light, mildly sweet (not sour at all), and beautiful when toasted lightly.
I've attached a picture of the crumb. (I omitted most of the additions, except for some scant chocolate chips, as I was expecting failure.) It's not a feathery masterpiece like some of you have achieved, but I feel like I've gotten through some magical door to the other side now. I thought it was worth sharing the water info, in case it helps a future traveler.
Thank you to everyone on this site who shares their knowledge and love for baking. ❤️
I also live in San Francisco and there was a change to the water supply several years ago. I noticed the pH had gone up, though I have never seen as high as 9, more like high 8s. I never noticed a decrease in activity with any of my starters, but I use only water that has gone through a carbon (activated charcoal) filter that measures pH 7.2, for baking, more like the neutral reading you’d expect.
Nice job on the panettone, I’ve not ever tried that myself.
-Brad
I didn't know the water supply varied over the years, interesting. My hunch is the pH is more important for enriched doughs like panettone, as it needs so much leavening power. But I'm a novice and not expert in any of this. Thanks for the reply :)
Good writing! And this is definitely the best panettone crumb I've seen after such a journey!
Thank you sparkfan! Maybe I'll start working on my cookbook memoir, "Rising Naturally".